


Aftermath

by JenJo



Series: CW- WinterIron flavoured. [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:19:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5960524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenJo/pseuds/JenJo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Bucky works through shooting Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

"You have operated unchecked for too long. This was the inevitable outcome."

"There's nothing inevitable about this, General," Tony stated, not breaking eye contact with the man. Steve sat on his left, Bucky on his right. Ross sat across the table, which was a meter long. He looked far too comfortable, considering he was facing off two super soldiers, and an Iron Man.

"The Avengers are a public property, and as such, are held to a high level of expectation from the public. Those expectations extend to your black ops teams."

"We don't have a black ops team."

"Oh? And how would you explain Mr Barnes, and his recent activities then, Captain?"

Tony laughed, drawing attention away from Steve. "Cleaning house? He was taking out HYDRA bases. It is in the interests of all that those are gone."

"And the dead's right to a fair trial?"

Tony held up a hand to stop Steve from talking. "A point, General? I assume that you have one, somewhere."

"All members of your team are to be known, and sanctioned by a new government branch. Background checks, security clearance ranks, the works. This branch will have the power to veto any member. The team only operates on our instruction." Ross pointed to the stack of paper in front of Tony. "All clauses are detailed in the papers."

"And what is your plan for Barnes?" Steve asked; Tony nodded in agreement, skimming over the papers while Bucky continued to stare at Ross, unblinking.

Ross smiled. "Prison, of course. He is a wanted criminal, has been for the better part of seventy years."

"Prisoner of War would be a better description," Steve returned. Ross shrugged.

"Semantics."

"Hardly. A prisoner of war wouldn't be sent to jail," Steve clenched his fists under the table. “Where's your right to a fair trial here?"

"And how would you guarantee a fair trial? Hmm? Where is your impartial jury coming from?" Ross stood up calmly, hands behind his back. "The simple fact is, Mr Barnes is known to have been behind at least two dozen assassinations, probably more. That fact alone is enough to send him away for life."

Tony stood up, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder to stop him from doing the same. Bucky continued to stare at Ross. "You want approval of Avengers Missions to come from a committee? And what about those times when a quick response is critical? We're supposed to just sit around, waiting?"

"There will be teething issues, as detailed in the papers. I'm sure once you have your lawyers look through them, you will sign them."

Tony continued  to skim the papers as he talked to Ross. "At the time of these incidents," Tony looked up from the papers, which listed so called ‘Incidents’ that were the fault of the Avengers; including New York, Washington, and Sokovia. "James Barnes was not a member of the Avengers, nor is he currently. James Barnes has never been a member of the Avengers, and as such is not subject to this clause forcing him to stand trial as a member of the Avengers. That  clause has to be fixed."

"Every primary school student knows that Mr Barnes is Captain America's closest friend," Ross walked around to the side of the table; Tony walked to stand in front of him. "You can't convince anyone that the two were not in consultation."

"Is this while the man was recovering from seventy years of brainwashing?" Tony’s voice, which had remained calm and level, rose at the end of the sentence.

"Mr Stark, your emotions are showing," Ross smiled, “You might want to keep them in check.”

Tony gritted a smile back. “My emotions are fine. It is you who are out of line, General.”

“You are aware that you are in a government building. And as such, I have a certain, immunity to my actions.” Ross reached out towards Tony, straightening his tie. Tony remained still, staring Ross down. “Trust me when I say, if I want it, you will not make it out of here alive."

Tony blinked. "Are you threatening me?"

"Admittedly," Ross sighed, reaching into his pocket, "this would all go much easier without you. Your death would smooth matters quite well."

The room fell into slow motion for its occupants. Before Ross ahd finished raising the gun,  Bucky was out of his seat, jumping across the table and tackling Ross to the ground. The gun fellfrom Ross' hand. Steve reacted a second later, leaping over the table and pulling Bucky off of Ross, who was laughing as he stood up.

"Uncontrollable," he laughed, spitting out blood from his mouth. "Prison is the only place for you. I have all the proof I need now to lock you up for good. And then, you won’t be able to protect Rogers. Or Stark"

Bucky made another lunge for Ross; Steve held him back, and looked to Tony. "Get him out of here!"

Tony, who hadn't moved, shook his head and lifted Ross off of the floor. "Come on."

Once Tony had got Ross (who wouldn't stop laughing) out of the room, Bucky made a stronger effort to escape Steve's grasp.

"Come on Buck," Steve said into Bucky's ear. "Violence ain't the answer here."

Bucky didn't respond verbally. Instead, he broke his right arm free, reaching over his shoulder and flipping Steve to the ground. Once free, Bucky strode over to the dropped gun and picked it up. Cocking the gun, he walked out of the room, and locked the door behind him. He then proceeded to hunt down Ross.

 

**TARGET IN RANGE IN TWENTY SECONDS.**

**AUDITORY FEEDBACK COMFIRM: TARGET UP THE STAIRS.**

**TEN SECONDS TO RANGE.**

**SUGGESTION: POINT BLANK, WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE.**

**CONFIRM SUGGESTION.**

**FIVE.**

**FOUR.**

**THREE.**

**TWO.**

**ONE.**

**TARGET GRABBED GUN; HOLDING GUN IN FRONT OF FACE.**

**SUGGESTION: FIRE.**

**CONFIRM SUGGESTION.**

**THE TARGET DID NOT FALL.**

**VISUAL FEEDBACK: ARC REACTOR POWERED HAND SHIELD PREVENTED PENETRATION OF BULLET.**

**ERROR: TARGET IS NOT IN POSSESSION OF ARC REACTOR TECHNOLOGY.**

**ERROR.**

**TARGET IS NOT MOVING. OBSERVATION: EYES WIDE, PUPILS DILATED, HEAVY BREATHING.**

**ANALYSIS: TARGET IN SHOCK.**

**SUGGESTION: SHOOT AGAIN. AVOID HAND. TARGET CHEST, RIGHT SIDE.**

**CONFIRM SUGGESTION.**

**FIRE.**

 

"James."

Bucky blinked, and shook his head. He watched Tony fall to his knees, then to the ground. Bucky instantly felt the life drain from him, and fell to Tony's side, lifting his head into his lap.

"Tony? What?" Bucky felt a tear fall down his face.

"You did this," Tony breathed, in between gasping for breath.

"What?"

Tony sat up, and grabbed a hold of Bucky's face. "You shot me. You killed me, James Buchanan Barnes."

Tony then fell lifeless, running a bloody hand over Bucky's face as he fell. Bucky ran his hands over Tony's lifeless body, trying to find a sign of life.

"Tony! TONY! WAKE UP!" Bucky then yelled, and didn't stop yelling.

 

~~~~~

 

 

"James, come on!" Tony shook Bucky again, trying to wake up the screaming man. Bucky shot up, breathing hard and reaching out towards Tony. Tony scrambled out of the way, holding out his hands. Bucky breathed heavily, body otherwise frozen, left hand reaching out for Tony's neck.

After a minute of silence, Bucky blinked, but didn't lower his hand.

"Tony?" he whispered. Tony nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it's me."

"But I killed you."

"Not yet you haven't."

"I shot you. Twice. I saw-" Bucky began, but Tony interrupted him, reaching out to hold onto the metal hand. Tony pulled the hand to his chest, holding it in both hands.

"A dream, Bucky. Nothing more."

Bucky looked down to his left, thinking. He looked back to Tony. "Ross?"

"Safe and sound, the bastard. Probably won't be wanting to antagonise you anytime soon though."

Bucky nodded, rubbing his head with his right hand. "How did the meeting go?"

"What do you remember?"

"My dream? Seems to be my memory," Bucky's brows furrowed in thought. "Ross pulled a gun on you, I chased after him, but shot you instead."

Tony nodded. "That's what happened. It just didn't end with you killing me. Obviously."

"Obviously," Bucky nodded, then noticed the bandage around Tony’s right shoulder and arm. “What happened to your arm?”

Tony lifted the arm, wincing slightly at the movement. “Well, not all of us have a special serum that can heal injuries within a day. And you did shoot it point blank; even with the glove, it’s gonna take a little bit to heal.”

“Sorry,” Bucky said, before looking around the room. "Why are we back at your tower?"

Tony narrows his eyes at Bucky, and ran a hand along the metal arm he was still holding. "You don't remember what happened after you tried to shoot me?"

Bucky looked down to the left, thinking. "You didn't die. Uh," he rubbed his head again. "No, that can't be right." He looked to Tony. "Can it?"

"What?"

Bucky pulled his hand free, and turned it around in front of his eyes. "Thought so. I thought that you had proposed to me, but no ring."

Tony gave him a small smile. "Well, I did ask you to marry me. Didn't exactly have a ring on me at the time."

Bucky blinked at Tony. "You proposed to me? After I shot you?"

Tony shrugged. "Like I said yesterday, there is no one I trust more than you. We know that everything HYDRA did to you is undocumented, and we'll probably be discovering the effects for the rest of our lives. The man I love? Didn't shoot me."

"So you want to get married, as the world falls apart around us?"

Tony held out his arms towards Bucky. Bucky crawled over the bed, and wrapped himself around Tony. Tony wrapped his uninjured arm around Bucky, and placed the other one on his shoulder.

"As long as you want to stay with me, I don't care what happens with the world. Hell, we can run away together, leave the saving the world to the younger people."

"Your company?"

"Only in name. Pepper's had it covered for years. I can work in R&D, consult every so often."

"You would leave your life behind to be with me?" this was whispered against Tony's neck. Tony responded by hugging Bucky tighter, and pressing a kiss to his head.

"I would go anywhere, as long as I got to stay with you. You're stuck with me, for better or for worse."

Bucky pulled back so that he could look at Tony, a smile on his face. "You said that yesterday. That's how you proposed."

"Pretty much," Tony smiled, pressing a kiss to Bucky's lips. "Your answer still yes?"

Bucky pressed a kiss back. "Yes."

"Okay then. After we deal with the government, we can sort out a wedding. Big, small, whatever."

"After the government," Bucky sighed. "That'll be a while."

"No doubt. Just means a longer engagement," Tony whispered into Bucky's ear, pressing a kiss behind his ear.

"So, when are we going to tell the others?"

Tony shrugged. "Do we?"

"Well, if I'm going to be wearing a ring, they're gonna want to know why."

Tony laughed. "There you go about the ring again."

"What can I say? I'm an old fashioned fella."

Tony and Bucky looked at each other, both attempting to keep a straight face. They cracked at the same time, bursting out into a fit of laughter, and falling back on the bed, still entwined.

"You're hilarious."

"I try to counter my brain fades with hilarity, try to soften myself as a character."

Tony nodded, before pausing, separating himself from Bucky and sitting up. "Wait."

Bucky sat up slower, putting a hand on Tony's left shoulder. "What?"

"FRIDAY?"

[Yes Boss?]

"Am I remembering what I think I am?"

[You know I'm not psychic Boss.]

"FRIDAY."

[Top left draw, Boss.]

"Legend," Tony smiled, before jumping off of the bed.

[I try to surpass what you programmed me to be, Boss.]

"Don't push it."

"Tony?" Bucky called out, watching (a very naked) Tony walked into his wardrobe, and to the top left draw. He returned to the bed, holding one hand behind his back. Tony used his injured arm to beckon Bucky to the edge of the bed.

"Tony?" Bucky asked again. Tony smiled, before getting down on one knee.

"James Buchanan Barnes," Tony smiled, and pulled the box from behind his back. Opening it, he presented Bucky with a ring. "A ring, if you would do me the honour of allowing me to call myself your husband."

Bucky smiled, and pulled Tony up onto the bed. "Only if you will allow me the honour of allowing me to call myself  _ your  _ husband."

Tony nodded, laughing. Bucky presented his hand; Tony took the ring out of the box, and slipped the ring onto Bucky’s finger. Bucky held his hand up to the light, observing it. The ring was four interwoven strands of metal: gold, red, silver, and blue.

"You know, gold because it's an engagement ring," Tony climbed onto the bed behind Bucky, and put his head on Bucky’s shoulder so that he could watch Bucky admire the ring. "Red for my armour. Silver for your armour. Blue for your eyes."

"Blue for the arc reactor," Bucky corrected, turning to press a kiss to Tony's cheek. "I know the colour of the reactor, Tony."

Tony hummed, returning the kiss to the cheek. "So, maybe I thought I'd like you carrying a piece of my heart with you everywhere you went."

"It's actually part of the reactor?"

"The one from my heart, yep."

“A piece of you wherever I am?” Bucky turned around, wrapping Tony up into a hug. “Perfect. Just like you, my love.”

Tony smiled, kissing Bucky. “Love you too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Basically, I thought about how Bucky saw the events of the previous story.  
> And I really wanted him to have a ring.


End file.
